LANSING – Michigan state government wants its recent victory in a state-worker pay dispute to be a model for future cases — possibly making it easier for the state to win similar cases — even as an employee union seeks to overturn the state's victory.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in June that the state's Department of Corrections and Civil Service Commission properly handled a 2012 decision to downgrade nearly 2,500 prison positions and cut the affected workers' pay. The appellate judges said an Ingham County judge who last year ruled in favor of the workers "erred by … reweighing evidence, making credibility decisions, and substituting (his) judgement for that of the" commission.

The appellate judges said their unanimous decision should be "unpublished," essentially meaning they felt the case broke no new ground and should not go into the official law books from which attorneys cite precedent as they argue future cases.

However, the Attorney General's Office, representing the Civil Service Commission, has filed a motion asking that the court publish its opinion. The judges established new and important distinctions in how the Michigan Constitution, court rules and administrative procedures should be applied in such disputes, Solicitor General Aaron Lindstrom wrote in the motion.

"Given the frequency with which commission decisions are appealed to circuit courts and to this court, and the potential for this issue arising in the future, publication would provide clarity to the commission, future litigants, and reviewing courts," Lindstrom wrote.

Having an established precedent could help winning parties if similar cases come up in the future.

"Courts are supposed to decide like cases alike," Richard Friedman, a law professor at the University of Michigan, said in an email to the State Journal. "If the AG got a decision he likes and hopes is followed he would naturally be eager for the decision to be published."

Through a spokesman, the Civil Service Commission declined to comment.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Corrections Organization — the employee union fighting for the pay to be restored — announced Monday it would appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. The union says the workers perform more specialized work than typical corrections officers and deserve the higher pay.

"We’ve challenged this in every venue possible, and we aren’t stopping now," the union said in a written statement.

By Wednesday, the union had not officially filed its Supreme Court appeal or an answer to Lindstrom's motion for publication. The court had not ruled whether it would publish the opinion. The judges who decided the case have 21 days to decide, and their decision must be unanimous or the opinion remains unpublished.